Cheat, Steal, Collude… Trump Did It All

“Facebook said late Friday that it had suspended Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL), along with its political data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica, for violating its policies around data collection and retention. The companies, which ran data operations for Donald Trumpâ€™s 2016 presidential election campaign, are widely credited with helping Trump more effectively target voters on Facebook than his rival, Hillary Clinton.”

See Facebook suspended Donald Trumpâ€™s data operations team for misusing peopleâ€™s personal informationClearly, Trump has no hesitation in hiring the worst human beings on the planet when it comes to human things like having a conscience and listening to it or being loyal to one’s country/government/oath. He’s cheated on his wives. He’s bullied all kinds of people. He catered to Russia to help his schemes for greatness and greed. He has not the guts to tell someone to their face that they are fired, despite “The Apprentice”, and clearly he feels contracts are for other people to follow. His campaign stole data from FaceBook despite terms of service and used it to target voters.

If the GOP won’t do it, the Ds should immediately after they return to power in Congress impeach the bastard.

About Robert Pogson

I am a retired teacher in Canada. I taught in the subject areas where I have worked for almost forty years: maths, physics, chemistry and computers. I love hunting, fishing, picking berries and mushrooms, too.

43 Responses to Cheat, Steal, Collude… Trump Did It All

1. The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 31 percent over the past year.
2. Total stock market wealth added since Mr. Trumpâ€™s first inauguration: $5.5 trillion.
3. Over the last year, 2.2 million jobs were added to the economy.
4. Minorities have experienced their lowest unemployment rates ever.
5. The historic $1.5 trillion in tax cuts have poured millions into the pockets of workers through bonuses, pay hikes, and higher take-home pay.
6. The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index stands at 55.1, well above the 49.3 average over that measureâ€™s lifetime, signaling continued confidence in the strength of the economy.
7. The Wall Street Journal reported U.S. consumer confidence hit a 14-year high.

At the same time, Hillary and the bunch of liberal celebrities keep telling loud that anyone, upset by their words, is wrong, racist, intolerant, etc. etc.

As Facebook faces a crisis related to a user data scandal and the 2016 election, it seems appropriate to reflect on Facebookâ€™s COO Sheryl Sandberg telling Clinton campaign manager John Podesta that she wanted Hillary to â€œwin badly.â€

Robert, as usual, others here are more competent on topics you discuss so bravely.

I live in a country, which has been a victim of Russia’s “disinformation and phishing campaigns” since XIX century and we still are. Not only that, but I have also quite some knowledge how these Asians work.

Nowadays, Russians pay via a complex network of foundations (almost all of whom are liberal). They start by sponsoring pretty normal liberal projects. Then, little by little, they start to require certain messages through this sponsorship. Along this way, they pick out people who would publish anything for money. These guys are then given ready materials to spread out. The nice people work on FB, Twitter, YouTube, forums, discussion groups, comments section after articles. They have a very well-worked out mechanism to support each other, to get into fake discussions and delude any meaningful counter discussions.

In short, Robert, having access to data from FB has too little value. Anyone can get data from FB and Twitter – you need just a few dedicated people and patience.

Deaf Spy wrote, “Using data, even without permission, is not deception. It might be theft.”

If I tell you “I’m a good guy. I won’t use your data except for purpose X, trust me.” If I then go and do Y with the data, I defrauded you. That’s what happened here. Further, want to know about COLLUSION! COLLUSION! COLLUSION!? These jokers shared the data and algorithms with the Russians. Guess what the Russians did with it? Designed their wonderful disinformation and phishing campaigns.

This is a train-wreck and we are long past the original “What was that?” initial bump. We are into the phase where people are being flung about and all kinds of stuff is hitting the fan. Next, people will be crushed along with the train. I am amazed that ~40million people have not yet recognized they are in a train-wreck but they soon will. I think many hoped Trump would break some China but I think very few thought he would betray USA to Russia for a few rubles.

In the meanwhile, Hillary is doing a great job to cement Trump and ensure his second win:

“‘So to those upset or offended by what I said last week, I hope this explanation helps to explain the point I was trying to make,’ she said. ‘And I hope now that we can get back to the real business before us: Protecting our democracy and building a future we can all share,’ she concluded. “
Not only has this lady the temerity to insult US citizens again. She doesn’t even have guts to admit her wrongdoing and apologize. She even makes it worse.

Neither FB nor people gave Trump permission to take and use that data the way they did.

They were data-mining public data, which is what every candidate has been doing since the turn of the millennium.

Sometimes I wonder if all those people of the establishment who try to “prove” Trump should be impeached real soon now even realise how much they are helping him. I cannot seem to think of a better way to accidentally give the impression Trump is fighting the elites to the average Trump voter (emphasize “impression”). Trump is of course playing the establishment (and his voters) like a violin by teasing tariffs and immigration law enforcement on every opportunity. You see, both of these a big no-no for the establishment/Soros people, who want to use Asia (and particularly China) as a loophole against domestic sweatshop laws and also like to have illegal immigrants undercut the locals by competing with them illegally. Not that Trump will actually make any tariffs or real immigration law enforcement happen, teasing the voters and the establishment is enough to guarantee him a stroll in the next elections.

Grece wrote, “is this an example of cheating, stealing and colluding??”

Simple fraud, perhaps wire-fraud in this century. Neither FB nor people gave Trump permission to take and use that data the way they did. If you steel the Edsel I have under canvas in my garage that I haven’t seen for years and I don’t notice, is it still a crime? Yes. If you take data from computer systems without permission is it a crime? Yes. If you steal personal data and use it to foment rebellion in the country is it a crime? Yes. People have been summarily executed for inciting riot. I don’t see why Trump’s campaign should be treated any differently. It’s the same with many criminals. They see their acts not as crime but “being smarter” than others. They should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. I think Trump has far exceeded the requirements for impeachment. He should also rot in jail until he dies.

Hey Robert, is this an example of cheating, stealing and colluding?? You owe us an explanation as to why it is or is not.

Thatâ€™s because the more than 1 million Obama backers who signed up for the [Facebook-based app] gave the campaign permission to look at their Facebook friend lists. In an instant, the campaign had a way to see the hidden young voters. Roughly 85% of those without a listed phone number could be found in the uploaded friend lists. Whatâ€™s more, Facebook offered an ideal way to reach them. â€œPeople donâ€™t trust campaigns. They donâ€™t even trust media organizations,â€ says Goff. â€œWho do they trust? Their friends.â€

Just Google “obama facebook data mining” and you will find all sorts of information about it.

Now Robert, knowing that this sort of thing was done before, are you going to retract your statement or write another post on how “Cheat, Steal, Colludeâ€¦ Obama Did It All”?

In fact, when have you ever originated a singular “original” thought? Everything you seem to post of late stems from what you reading or watching online. ow about we discuss the upcoming Lithium crunch, as demand is stripping supply? Or that Lithium extraction via brine ponds take a excessively long-time to accomplish?

Deaf Spy wrote, “I definitely canâ€™t see how â€œDs â€¦ return to power in Congressâ€.”

Oh, it’s simple. Things like hating congressional hacks who keep supporting Trump. On election day, the question will be simple. “Did you vote to impeach the tyrant?” Look at Trump’s approval rating and look at how Trump’s secret agenda is “Russia first!”.

Btw, Robert, I’d like to ask where your legal expertise in image intellectual property on the Internet comes from. Being involved in two research projects that rely on images provided by search engines, I can say a thing or two. But you?

All other hallucinations aide, I definitely can’t see how “Ds … return to power in Congress”.

Dems are totally out of touch with reality and never stop insulting other people, and are way too aggressive towards anyone with even mildly conservative views. They don’t hesitate even to insult devoted Christians.

At the same time, US economy is doing pretty well, and people are enjoying the new tax code.

Finally, â€œOn Saturday, after Trump campaigned for Republican House candidate Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania, Clintonâ€™s longtime communications adviser, Philippe Reines, said he understands â€œwhy that man won in 2016.â€
â€œAnd I understand â€” Iâ€™m not terrified â€” but I understand why he may win again in 2020,â€ Reines said.â€

Do not think for one second Robert, that the Trump campaign acted in a egregious manner. Everything done prior to the election night was done properly. Why you and THEVERGE are crying foul about it now is hilarious!

So now it is Trump-bots that were colluding, which made Clinton lose the election, I see I see.

Read what I wrote regarding the Facebook Terms of Service and on that point lets Study part 2 section 4: When you publish content or information using the Public setting, it means that you are allowing everyone, including people off of Facebook, to access and use that information, and to associate it with you (i.e., your name and profile picture).

Study part 2 section 1: For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.

Your argument is without merit Robert, and shows again that your whining is not going to change the outcome of the election. In fact, this shows that Trump’s campaign was the smarter endeavor by using social media, which is no way nefarious or cheating, as the way the article you linked attempts to explain.

I gladly await a trial for this misdeed of justice, oh wait there isn’t any was there? LMFAO!!

Grece wrote, “How can Trumps campaign have stolen data from Facebook, when said data is â€œfreelyâ€ given by each individual and offered by Facebook for use?”

Terms of Use:“If you collect information from users, you will: obtain their consent, make it clear you (and not Facebook) are the one collecting their information, and post a privacy policy explaining what information you collect and how you will use it. – You may use Account Information in accordance with your privacy policy and other Facebook policies. All other data may only be used outside your app after you have obtained explicit user consent.”

FB gave Trump permission to use the FB website, not the data. There is a difference. The data is owned by users of FB not FB.

How can Trumps campaign have stolen data from Facebook, when said data is “freely” given by each individual and offered by Facebook for use? Why Facebook even “helped” the campaign perform this action. So how is this in anyway “stealing” Robert?

Trump Campaign Digital Director Brad Parscale told 60 Minutes this week that when he emailed Facebook asking for â€œevery single secret button, click, technology you have,â€ the social network agreed to send its staffers to sit with the Trump campaign advertising and data operation. This quality time reportedly happened as frequently as five days a week.

According to Parscale, the Clinton campaign was offered a similar set of embeds and turned them down.

In a single day, Parscaleâ€™s operation averaged 50,000-to-60,000 ads a day. He claims he was even able to choose the individual Facebook employees who would work with his operation based on whether they leaned Republican or Democrat. (He says he chose all Republicans, naturally.)

It was Parscaleâ€™s job to make the ads and figure out what was going to make people react, but his data game was certainly strengthened by Facebook employees who sat next to him explaining exactly how to use their tools to make that happen.

My Mission

My observations and opinions about IT are based on 40 years of use in science and technology and lately, in education. I like IT that is fast, cost-effective and reliable. My first use of GNU/Linux in 2001 was so remarkably better than what I had been using, I feel it is important work to share GNU/Linux with the world. Now that I'm retired I still use GNU/Linux on every computer in my home except the smartphones which run Android/Linux.

Lately, I've been giving lots of thought to the world I inherited and which I will leave to my descendants. I'm planting grass, trees, flowers and vegetables in my large lot and I've ordered a Solo EV. I plan to charge my Solo by means of a tracking solar array. Life is good if you have a purpose. I do.